For many decades, Blake alumni, parents, guardians and friends have shown their generosity and commitment to the school by establishing endowments. An endowment is held in perpetuity and invested with the return on the investment providing a constant source of income for designated activities, which at Blake include faculty professional development. Blake endowments benefit the entire community today and in the future. 

This summer, faculty will pursue professional development made possible by these endowments.

Plank Scholars Endowment
This endowment empowers faculty to pursue their passions and return to classrooms inspired and ready to transform student learning.  

Congratulations to this summer’s recipients whose plans include:

Katelyn Derricott (Middle School dance teacher) will attend the How Movement Works intensive at Trinity Laban in London to deepen her understanding of dance education and inclusive movement strategies. This training will directly inform the development of her new Middle School dance curriculum units including Dance as Identity and Dance as Storytelling.

Susie Jessop (fifth grade teacher) will travel to Portugal to study bridges as engineering, environmental and community transportation systems in Lisbon and Porto. This experience will enhance the fifth grade bridge study unit by providing authentic, real-world examples, original media and increased understanding, inspiring students to take creative risks in their culminating design project.

Jennifer Kalika (Lower School strings teacher) will travel to Sydney, Australia, to observe the integration of the Reggio Emilia philosophy with string-instrument instruction in a culturally diverse setting. She aims to learn about the use of global and Aboriginal repertoire to ensure her students feel represented and included through more diverse teaching materials and community-connected music.

Brandi Rainey (fourth grade teacher) will undertake a 14-day educational journey through Senegal, Togo, and Benin to reconnect with ancestral roots and study West African landforms. She will integrate the maps, photos and personal stories she collects into the fourth grade geography curriculum to move students from abstract concepts to real-world inquiry.

Laura Rodríguez-Durán (Upper School Spanish teacher) will pursue a certificate in International Baccalaureate Education (IB) through Bethel University to focus on curriculum design and pedagogy. This training will allow her to intentionally bring IB pedagogy into her lower-level Spanish classes to enhance inquiry-based learning and global relevance.

Brian Sago (Upper School visual arts teacher) will study the arts and crafts movement in Scotland by visiting various museums and printmaking centers in Glasgow and Edinburgh. He will bring back knowledge about applied arts to merge with the school's makerspace and create new ideas for the printmaking and photography curriculum.

Jennifer Sharpe (Middle School science teacher) will participate in a weeklong field study fish survey in Split, Croatia, with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF). The experience will help her design more meaningful, realistic hands-on data-collection opportunities for her eighth grade environmental science students.

Lyon History Fund
This fund supports professional development, by a faculty member teaching social studies. 

This summer's recipients, fifth grade teacher Kamie Page and UE teacher librarian Elaine Hove, will gather narratives and primary sources over the summer to help students analyze patterns of injustice and hope within the fifth grade Stories of Hope and Human Rights curriculum.

Frank Donaldson Faculty Development Sabbatical Endowment
Established in 1992, this fund provides support for Blake faculty members to undertake significant sabbatical projects.  

During the school year, Middle School English teacher Rachel Godlewski will use the time to focus on responsibly and productively integrating artificial intelligence into Middle School writing curriculum.

David M. Hersey Summer Sabbatical Endowment
After President David Hersey resigned from Blake in 1983, the Board of Trustees established a summer sabbatical program in his honor. The award is given to a faculty member who represents the highest level of teaching effectiveness at Blake. It is intended to support the development of an interest that would otherwise be difficult to pursue. 

This summer, Lower School engineering and programming specialist Joe Druskin will research water mills and natural beauty. He intends to collaborate with students to map the woods on campus and create a companion guide inspired by his travels.